Employment Bulletin North West and North Wales February 2020 On behalf of the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), welcome to the North West and North Wales Employment Bulletin, which will provide you with the latest jobs and business news from across the region and highlights a selection of the latest regional vacancies on our job site, RightJob. In addition to this bulletin, there are plenty of other resources available to assist you in your job search: the monthly Focus e-newsletter provides job-finding, resettlement and training news via email, our bespoke Industry Sector Guides are regularly updated with the latest industry news, and the CTP website is full of useful tips, advice and dedicated employer microsites, where you will find information from a range of companies with ongoing opportunities for ex-military personnel. Regional Overview This region covers a large geographical area including, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, North Wales and Isle of Man. It boasts Manchester, one of the best cities in Europe to locate a business; Liverpool, one of Europe's fastest-growing economies and European Capital of Culture 2008; Cheshire, home to AstraZeneca's largest global R&D centre; Lancashire, a world leader in advanced manufacturing and engineering; and Cumbria, at the international cutting-edge of nuclear technology. Almost 50% of the entire output from North Wales is generated in Flintshire and Wrexham. Flintshire and Wrexham derive more of their economic output from production activities than any other location in the whole of the UK. The economies of the remainder of North Wales are smaller in output but each area has a number of important businesses. This includes ICT companies in Denbighshire; creative and healthcare businesses in Gwynedd; and marine engineering and food in Anglesey. Conwy is the area of the economy most reliant on the visitor economy but with a number of companies representing different sectors. Each of these areas has its own varying set of employment factors which you need to take into account when job searching. Therefore, it is beneficial for you to keep up-to-date with local business news and sign up with local job search websites to get relevant, up-to-date information to aid you in your search for employment. © Career Transition Partnership 2020 Regional Job Market News Expansions | New businesses | Market growth | Upcoming opportunities | Closures | Risks BuildForce Armed Forces Insight Day hosted by Wates Date: Thurs 27th Feb - Venue: Manchester Time: 1030 – 1500 The Insight Day will focus on local and nationwide construction and the built environment current and pipeline opportunities and a chance to talk to key employers from the BuildForce Alliance, including Amey, Balfour Beatty, Balfour Beatty Vinci HS2 JV, Building Heroes, Danny Sullivan, Eiffage Kier HS2 JV, Highways England, Jacobs, Kier, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Robertson Group, Self-Build Heroes, Prospect Homes, Turner & Townsend, Thompsons Ltd., VGC, Vistry Partnerships, Willmott Dixon, Wilson James and more to be confirmed. This is a great opportunity to discuss skills required, training and find out more about what the industry has to offer; roles such as Project Managers, Designers, Logisticians, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Estimators, Health and Safety, QA, Tradesmen, Civil Engineering and supporting roles. A job in construction isn’t just about being on the tools, it is accessible to all ranks and skill sets, and offers real potential for career progression. To book a place, email: [email protected] Read more Siemens Apprenticeships Apprenticeships are a great way for us to turn today’s talented young people like you into the experts we need tomorrow. Whether you’re interested in Engineering, Business Administration or Finance, we have opportunities here and now for you. We have more than 500 apprentices at Siemens in total and, with over 15,000 people working in the UK We offer apprenticeships at various levels and locations, with a variety of roles on offer. They are based at sites across the UK including: Ulverston, Cheshire and Manchester. Read more © Career Transition Partnership 2020 Care home expansion to create up to 12 new jobs A Care Home has submitted a planning application for a three-storey development. Good Companions Care Home based at Silloth submitted the application to Allerdale Council on December, 18, 2019. It is needed for us to be able to continue to serve the local community and to ensure the continuing full employment of our 36 care staff. If successful the new development will allow the care home to employ a further 10 to 12 staff bringing the total to nearly 50. Read more Entrepreneur on hunt for more staff after £1.5m New Anglesey Seaside Café success story A pioneering food entrepreneur who created 50 new jobs by ploughing more than £1.5m into an Anglesey seaside café has launched a recruitment drive for extra staff. Phil Brown, a former schoolmate of Prince Charles, who built up the Philpotts bespoke sandwich empire, which now has 22 outlets across the UK, has now launched the Sea Shanty Café in Trearddur Bay, Anglesey. Read more Free and Flexible Construction, Engineering & ICT Courses Available at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai A national initiative to help adults in employment access lifelong learning and training opportunities is being piloted in North Wales by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Wales’s largest provider of further education. Through the Welsh Government’s innovative Personal Learning Account programme, free courses are available to people over 19 who are employed and earning an annual salary of less than £26,000. Read more Global Sports Suppliers Acquire New 47-Acre Site in North Wales A global provider of sports equipment is set for further expansion after announcing the acquisition of a new 47-acre site in North Wales. With the help of a £1.6million loan from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Net World Sports, which currently exports high quality sporting products to more than 180 countries worldwide, will continue to grow its operations with the addition of the new site in Wrexham. Located less than a mile from the company’s current 120,000 sq. ft. headquarters on Wrexham Industrial Estate, the new site has already gained planning approval. Read more © Career Transition Partnership 2020 North West Business numbers rise by 11,000 as start-up boom continues The number of businesses in the North West rose by nearly 11,000 during 2019, which could indicate that the start-up boom is continuing, according to research by insolvency and restructuring trade body R3. The figures show that the region’s business community saw greater expansion last year than in 2018, when fewer than 8,000 additional businesses were created. “Start-ups create new jobs and prosperity and drive innovation. They help replace declining industries to maintain a competitive economy. However, starting a business is always a risk and inevitably, not all will succeed. Read more New restaurant, sports bar and dance venue to create 25 jobs A new bar with a restaurant, dancefloor and big screens showing live sport is coming to Stretford Mall, creating up to 25 jobs. The Hive, which will be based inside the former Royal Bank of Scotland building on Chester Road, will open its doors in the next two months, with its name inspired by the Manchester Bee symbol. Read more Online retailer announces plans to recruit hundreds of jobs Online retail giant Shop Direct has launched recruitment plans to hire hundreds of staff, coinciding with a change of name to The Very Group, reflecting its flagship brand Very.co.uk. The group, based in Speke, South Liverpool, said it will recruit around 150 roles over the next two years in the data and technology sectors. And it expects to add hundreds more new jobs at its new fulfilment centre in the East Midlands, which it said it will be operational this year, and employ around 800 people during peak periods. Read more 100 jobs created as rail operator agrees seven-year deal Almost 100 jobs will be created at rail group Alstom’s Widnes site and hundreds more will be safeguarded in a deal with new West Coast mainline operator Avanti West Coast. The rail operator, which took over from former operator Virgin Trains last month, has struck a £642m deal with Alstom to refurbish and maintain the Pendolino fleet it inherited from Virgin on the route. This will lead to almost 100 jobs at Alstom’s transport and technology centre in Widnes. Read more © Career Transition Partnership 2020 Department store in race to achieve sale and avoid risk of 1,000 job losses Department store chain Beales is on the brink of collapse, putting up to 1,000 jobs at risk. The store, which began trading in Bournemouth in 1881, filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators. Beales operates 22 stores, including sites in Southport and Kendal. Read more Oldham Council unveils Alexandra Park Eco Centre plans Oldham Council will submit plans for a multimillion-pound environmental centre of excellence next week. It has revealed the first images for the proposed Alexandra Park Eco Centre, coinciding with a visit from Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. Once built it would help enhance the borough’s reputation as a ‘green and growing’ city, while also boosting skills, training and employment opportunities. Read more Green light for new offices paves way for Knutsford Tech Company’s future growth Bruntwood Works has been given the go-ahead for a new, purpose-built office space at Booths Park in Knutsford. Booths Park 6 will be developed for Knutsford-based cybersecurity business, PortSwigger, following a period of huge growth. This development will establish Knutsford as a centre of technical excellence in the North West region, and lead to a large number of high-value jobs, including software engineers, researchers, technical product specialists, and journalists.